1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates generally to the field of reposable or reusable surgical instruments. In particular, the disclosure relates to instruments having separable and replaceable components to provide clean, sterile or refurbished surfaces in each instance of use.
2. Background of Related Art
One type of surgical device is a linear clamping, cutting and stapling device. Such a device may be employed in a surgical procedure to resect a cancerous or anomalous tissue from a gastro-intestinal tract. Conventional linear clamping, cutting and stapling instruments include a pistol grip-styled structure having an elongated shaft and distal portion. The distal portion includes a pair of scissors-styled gripping elements, which clamp the open ends of the colon closed. In this device, one of the two scissors-styled gripping elements, such as the anvil portion, moves or pivots relative to the overall structure, whereas the other gripping element remains fixed relative to the overall structure. The actuation of this scissoring device (the pivoting of the anvil portion) is controlled by a grip trigger maintained in the handle.
In addition to the scissoring device, the distal portion also includes a stapling mechanism. The fixed gripping element of the scissoring mechanism includes a staple cartridge receiving region and a mechanism for driving the staples up through the clamped end of the tissue against the anvil portion, thereby sealing the previously opened end. The scissoring elements may be integrally formed with the shaft or may be detachable such that various scissoring and stapling elements may be interchangeable.
A number of surgical device manufacturers have developed product lines with proprietary drive systems for operating and/or manipulating such surgical device. In many instances, such surgical device further includes a handle assembly, which is reusable, and a disposable end effector or the like that is selectively connected to the handle assembly prior to use and then disconnected from the end effector following use in order to be disposed of or in some instances sterilized for re-use.
Surgical devices that are reposable, or reusable for multiple procedures, reduce the instrumentation costs per procedure. Providing a reusable surgical device, however, presents various challenges. For example, the complexity of a surgical device tends to result in fairly labor intensive cleaning procedures to prepare the surgical device for subsequent use. Improper cleaning may result in dangerous contamination being introduced into the surgical site. Also, some reusable surgical devices have removable and replaceable components to provide clean surfaces for each use. Many of these surgical devices require arduous disassembly and reassembly procedures that require extensive training, and may discourage use of the surgical device.